Happenstance
by Soomin
Summary: Judai isn't too sure what to make of this new dimension. It hits too close to home, but his duty to protect the dimensions of the university will always come first. Not to mention, that Yuya kid is pretty fun to hang around with.
1. Curtain Rise

**Chapter 1: Curtain Rise**

Dimension hopping was no longer as destructive as it was in the beginning. He could still remember Shou's surprised face when he emerged from the crater he created. It took a little bit of explanation to Chancellor that the crater was not a sign of danger – at least not directly. The fact that he had return at all meant that something dangerous was happening to his home dimension, but at the time, he didn't want to worry anyone.

Nowadays, it was a matter of ensuring the place he was popping in was in a relatively desolate area. It was a lot of hassle trying to calm any spectators, and in some cases, trying to communicate after a long jump could be very difficult. It was a blessing that Yubel had the ability to scout out locations beforehand.

"This place – it feels familiar," Yubel mentioned as Judai packed.

"We've been to a lot of places through out the years. Are you sure that this is even a new dimension?" Judai asked.

"Yes. There is not a doubt that this dimension is new: the duel energy in this place is unfamiliar to me," Yubel explained. "However, the location that we are being drawn to reminds me of your home."

Judai laughed. "I haven't had a place to call home for a long time Yubel." If Yubel hadn't known better, they would have said that he sounded bitter.

"That town you lived in when you were young I mean. The buildings are large and there are many children in the area," they paused, "It is a very different environment from the kingdoms we have visited."

"Is that so? Maybe we can finally use some of that money I saved up from the last tournament," Judai joked and he tightened the drawstring on his bag. "Finished packing."

"It has been a long time since we've traveled to a new dimension, especially one as far as this one." Yubel commented, a concerned expression crossing their face. "Are you sure you are ready to leave?"

Judai stood up and turned to face Yubel. He was about to tease them that they were uselessly worrying again when he caught himself in the mirror. The robes he was wearing featuring garish colors and tassels of all types of material would probably more suspicion that he would like in this new dimension. His hair was in need of a cut, and he could probably do with a quick shave before they left. He could hear Yubel sigh as he walked over to the mirror to examine himself more closely.

"Living so far away from your friends has made you nervous to go back to the realms that have raised you," they gathered. Judai ignored them and scrutinized his face even further. He pulled at his clothes and wondered what his mother would have to say if she saw him in this. He tried to shake out the echoing silence inside his head.

"I'm not nervous. We go back every year to see Sho and the others," he tried arguing, ignoring the fact that time works very differently between dimensions and to him. It has been years since he returned home. "It just has been a long time since I had to be in a place with a lot of new people. I'm more worried looking like a sore thumb than having to talk to anyone." Yubel tilted their head, but chose not to comment on the last part.

"The clothes Rei gave you at your last reunion is in the blue bag," they suggested.

Judai didn't acknowledge their comment with a response but still walked over to the bag. He whispered a small prayer of thanks to Rei.

"I will go out and inform the magistrate of our leave then. We'll leave at sundown," Yubel informed and closed the door firmly behind them. Judai sighed as he was left alone and continued digging through the bag.

His choice to become a defender of the countless dimensions that exist in this universe was a choice he had never regretted. However, his journey to that decision continues to plague him. Even though his friends have told him that they forgave him for what happened when he became the Supreme King, he has never forgotten the pain he brought them. Not to mention, his sudden disappearance after Darkness was defeated brought back a few bitter emotions when he attended one of their reunions. It probably didn't help that it was the first time they heard of him in four of their years after his left them. They were even angrier when they found out that he came back every so often to hang out with Johan.

Luckily, his friends didn't expect too much from him and forgave him easily. Judai found himself to be a more frequent guest at their annual meet-ups, but he never stayed too long. He stayed long enough for his friends to believe that he was actually still alive, and that was it. It made him anxious being in a place he loved with friends he cherished knowing that danger was constantly following him.

He thought he'd be okay after Paradox. He was fine with Yusei and Yugi, but that was because the duel spirits also chose them. They were strong to begin with, and then they went through challenges and came out stronger. They had to or else face the destruction of their world. His friends, at least he hoped, never went through that. They were weak, and Judai couldn't bear the thought of putting everyone under that kind of stress again, even if he was forgiven.

Deep down, Judai still thought they all hated him. After all, who wouldn't hate someone like him? It was too easy, and he welcomed all of it. He wasn't the best of friends and would rather abandon them than face them and fix their relationships. He was good at fixing dimensional problems, but his friends didn't want Haou Judai to fix things. They wanted the Judai who would laugh and smile and was the good guy even though that Judai was never really a good guy either and-

Taking a deep breath, Judai cleared his mind and walked over to the window. Right now, there weren't multiple Judai's running around. He was Yuki Judai, just like he was Haou Judai, and he accepted that title with all the good and bad and that was okay. He can never change who he is, or how people think of him, but he can change how he acts, and that is the important thing. Looking over to the vast desert kingdom, he calmed himself and focused on his thoughts on his newest mission.

Days ago, just when he had finished stabilizing the new government over these lands, the Neo Spacians sensed a shift in power. Energy flowed randomly in ways Judai had no hope in understanding, but what he did understand was that this flow was unnatural that made the Neo Spacians nervous. It seemed to be grouping around one dimension in particular. The mission as of now is to just investigate and move from there.

Judai frowned at the thought of his plan. It was more vague than he would like it to be, but seeing how he is an army of one with a legion of heroes behind him, he was going to have to take the risk. From Yubel's vision, at least he knew he wasn't jumping heard first into some horrible wasteland. Judai didn't even try to hide the slight grimace as he recalled that horrible swamp dimension.

"One of these days, I'm going to retire and have an entire beach house to myself," Judai resolved as he leaned against the window frame.

"Kuri kuuri!" a friend chirped beside him. Judai almost laughed.

"Thanks buddy. One day, when you figure out how to fight the darkness on your own, I'll retire," Judai smiled as Winged Kuriboh rested on his head. He laughed his friend continued on its speech on how its training has been going and that Judai should really try fishing again when he retires.

Judai nodded as his friend continued, and walked over to the forgotten clothes. With his head in a better place, Judai began to dig through his wardrobe for more suitable clothes.

"Are you really going to wear that?" Burst Lady asked as Judai pulled out a jacket and a pair of jeans.

"Surely the green jacket will go better with those jeans," Sparkman inputted and Judai inwardly sighed.

"Are you joking? He wore that to the last reunion, and you all saw Fubuki's sigh. Rei also spent all that money on those new clothes. You should wear that instead," Clayman argued. Judai rolled his eyes and laid the clothes flat against himself as he looked at himself in the mirror.

"But I like these clothes," Judai retorted, a little annoyed that they were having this argument in the first place. "They're comfortable."

"New clothes! New clothes!" the remaining monsters in his deck chanted, and Judai wondered if Johan faced the same challenges from his deck. Even as king, he couldn't refuse their demands. Putting down his old jacket, Judai pulled out the neatly wrapped package from the bag. It had been months when he first received it, but with all the political relations he was helping out with, he hardly had time to look at it.

The clothes were a good fit, as if Rei somehow knew that Judai doesn't really grow like a normal person anymore. He began to question if he even aged. Japanese people aged very well, but he saw the odd looks his friends gave him at the last reunion. Normal people don't keep their boyish charm forever. To his amusement, he could still probably pass from anywhere from 15 to 20 years old despite being however old he was.

His duel monsters gave out a murmur of approval as Judai moved to look in the mirror. It had been a long time since he wore red, mostly because working as an advocate of the Gentle Darkness meant black was your designated color. Judai looked at his traditional robes and decided that black wasn't the worst color in the world. Rei had given him a very comfortable plain black shirt with a red jean vest to cover over it. It was simple, but it looked timeless enough to blend in if this new dimension really was like home.

There was still the matter of hair, but he would adjust afterwards. He looked well kept enough for people to immediately not to assume he finally returned from a stranded island.

"You seem happier. Those clothes look nice," someone complimented from the doorway.

"Well, it's nice to be in jeans again," Judai responded, and motioned for his visitor to enter. He didn't need to check to know that it was Yubel: he was always sure where the other half of him was.

"You never did like your formal ware when you were a child," Yubel reminisced as they walked in and sat down at the table. Judai paused for a moment. His mind flashed two different sets of memories: one where his mother was trying to put him in a suit and another where his wet nurse was trying to get him in his royal clothing. Judai tried to shake away the dual memories, but there was now tension in the air, and the small curses from Yubel were not helping.

"I apologize. I know that this next mission might be difficult for you to adjust and I didn't mean to bring up-"

"Yubel," Judai interrupted and walked over to sit across from them. "Tell me another story about us back then." Yubel's eyes soften in thankfulness, and smiled.

"Have I told you about the time about the 243rd annual games your family hosted?"

"Is this the one with the elephants?"

"This is the one after the elephants."

Judai smiled as he could tell this was going.

"We have a little time before we will need to leave," Yubel informed and sat back. "It was during the harvest, as the games normally are, and you were in a particularly bad mood that day." Yubel told, and Judai sat back in fondness for their stories.

Time passed quickly as the story was told, questions were answered, and laughs were shared. It wasn't long before the sun had fallen, and the time to leave was upon them. Pharaoh who was sleeping peacefully in the sun, stretched himself before climbing into his carrying bag for the trip. Judai scratched the top of his head and proceeded to head out.

His farewell was a quiet one. One a few members of the royal cabinet knew about his absence, and the rest of the kingdom will be alerted once he was gone. A few words were exchanged, and those who would see him off bowed their heads in respect.

Years ago, Judai might have thought that this was a little depressing for a hero who had just saved the world again. However, now that he was older and mature, he figured it was suitable for a figure meant to reside in darkness. He nodded and closed his eyes. He pretended not to notice how some of the cabinet seemed to already be gossiping about loopholes in their constitution. He tried not to think about the corruption already growing in these citizens. He tried not to think about that their farewells might be a little too short lived.

What he did have to think about was not landing in a sea of water again.

 _Focus Judai!_ Yubel yelled at him. Judai opened his eyes again and saw that he was no longer seamlessly flying through dimensions like normal but instead somehow stuck in the space between. Surrounding him were endless visions of different areas for this new dimension. He saw images of skyscrapers, dueling arenas, circuses, and schools. Had this not have been a potentially lethal situation, Judai might have taken the time to agree with Yubel about the similarities to his own dimension.

As Judai tried to figure out what was happening, something began pulling him. Behind him was some kind of void that was growing larger by the second. It seemed to have developed its own form of gravity and slowly dragging Judai towards it. Judai looked around for his original destination, but each portal was fading out as the void grew.

 _Judai! This one! Hurry!_ Judai didn't second-guess Yubel and used all of his strength to pull himself out of from the darkness's gravity.

Throwing himself into a vision of an alleyway, Judai closed his eyes and braced himself for landing. As if he was crashing through a glass window, he could feel the barrier between dimensions shatter before him. Inhaling a breath he didn't realized he was withholding, Judai wasted no time checking his surroundings and then immediately repairing the hole he made.

"I thought you said you were getting better at this," Yubel commented snidely as the barrier slowly repaired itself.

"At least we didn't arrive with a crater beneath us," Judai bit back, and sighed as the barrier disappeared from human sight. He was tired, but his judgment told him that it wasn't a good idea to just sleep in some strange alleyway.

"You think they take Yen here?" Judai asked, his hand on a wallet full of cards and cash he gathered through the years.

"Only one way to find out," Yubel motioned toward a main road, and Judai nodded.

There was nothing to worry about, right? It was just a main road with strangers that probably didn't care about him. It was going to be okay. He could be normal. He could be normal for just a few hours, right? Making a few steps forward, he prepared for the worst.

Judai almost forgot how much he loved the city. The scene in front of him almost took his breath away. As he walked out the alleyway, he was immediately greeted with the sight of skyscrapers and cars with sidewalks bustling with hundred of people, adults and children alike. Following the crowd, Judai examined every sign he passed along the way.

"Miami City," he repeated to himself, trying to keep down a childish glee in his stomach. He couldn't really help it though. It has been years since he was able to go to a game shop, and in this city, there was one for every three shops he passed. This was a duelist paradise.

"Judai, look. It seems that our technology is out of date," Yubel pointed as an ad played on a huge screen on a building. It showed the latest model of a duel disk that seemed to cross function as an array of different devices. Curiously enough, the ad didn't seem to feature any sponsorship from Kaiba Corp.

"Leo Corporation," Judai said and then suddenly aware that he was talking to himself again. To avoid stares, he kept moving.

"At least it's an upgrade from those horrendous D-Gazers from that one dimension," Yubel commented.

"You just didn't like them because it messed with your style," Judai teased, but Yubel didn't gratify it was a response.

"It seems this place runs in a parallel dimension," a voice commented from his side.

"A parallel dimension?" Judai asked as the form of Daitokuji-sensei became more visible.

"Yes. Many physicians from where we come from had theories about them, but none could prove their existence. It is a dimension that runs with our universe, but exists in a completely different universe all together. Perhaps that is why you were being dragged so much before, Judai. Our dimension was trying to drag you back," Daitokuji explained.

"Is that so," Judai asked, but nodded as Daitokuji continued to explain the theory of parallel dimensions. If that was the case, he was going to need to get himself situated if he was going to be able to do anything here. In the back of his mind, he began to wonder that if his decks were going to even hold up here.

Many dimensions, he found, specialized in different types of dueling. While fusion has always been his favorite, he will admit that XYZ summoning and Synchro had their uses. He kept a hand on his standard deck, and prayed for the best. He would probably need to visit one of those games shops in the near future.

"It's time for our spectacular RECAP special!" an announcer screamed over a few speakers, and Judai saw a crowd had gathered around a television screen on top of a skyscraper.

"Well, if there was ever a better opportunity to gather information," Judai muttered and walked over to join them.

"In today's legendary match between Pro Duelist Strong Ishijima and You Show Dueling School's Yuya Sakaki, we saw the true power of Sakaki's Entertainment Dueling! At first, it had seemed that today's match was in Ishijima's favor. However, out of nowhere, Sakaki performed a never before seen summoning type he has called PENDULUM Summoning!" the announcer explained as a graphic of the summoning played on screen.

In an array of light, two magician monsters were summoned as a large crystal swung between them. After a moment, three monsters emerged from the light in a dazzling array. The crowd was going mad about it.

"To get that many monsters on the field at once is certainly very powerful," Yubel noted.

"But he loses an advantage by playing too many cards at once. For novice players, it would act more like a double edged blade," Daitokuji commented.

"We are turning toward the battle stadium to get some more information on the summoning!"

The screen shifted at a boy with a bright smile with green and red hair played on the screen. Judai noted the jacket as probably a uniform as he saw other children wearing it. He also liked those goggles on the kid's head.

"Stop dodging the bullet and give us some details!" a man, who reminded Judai a little bit of Professor Chronus asked, but the boy deflected and tried to move away from the reporters. Judai pitied the poor kid. He heard from his friends the pains they have from fleeing reporters, and Johan was not above using Judai's power move quickly between tournaments just to avoid the crowds.

Moving away from the crowd, Judai moved to see a group of kids flocking together in one direction.

"Aren't we supposed to be investigating suspicious reports within this dimension?" Yubel asked.

"A new summoning technique came up that not even the creators of these duel disks were aware of. If that isn't suspicious, well, why don't you guide me to where I'm supposed to be going," Judai smirked as he followed the kids. He bit back a laugh as Yubel sighed in frustration.

The children he were following all ranged from ages 13-19 years old. For once, Judai was glad that he still looked young. They all were gossiping about this pendulum summoning and discussing useful combos with it. Daitokuji was beside himself with excitement.

"Ah, if only all of my students were like this," he smiled, his eyes glaring at Judai who shrugged.

"Were you this excited when you joined that dueling school?" Yubel asked, and Judai thought back all those years ago. He wasn't really all that excited to go to a dueling school as he was to duel new people. All of these kids has various reasons why they loved the card game so much, but Judai just really liked to win and being the best.

Of course, he moved one from that mindset.

"For the most part," Yubel commented.

"Winning is still pretty fun," Judai finished and didn't hide the smile that came with it.

The group stopped in front of a small building. On top was a signed with the words "You Show Duel School" in large font. The school reminded Judai of some of the smaller duel schools in his own town. There weren't many duelists where he was from, so the classes were often small and filled with hobbyists. It was a nice sight to see these kids so determined.

"Attention everyone! If we could just get everyone in a nice line, I'll hand out flyers to sign up for our duel school and then we'll take you in to our duel arena!" a young voice called out. Her pink hair made her hard to miss; however, it seemed that everyone was ignoring her. Judai frowned, and made his way to the front of the line.

"Hey you can't cut! Wait in line buster!" one boy called out to him.

Grabbing a chair from the table, Judai yelled from the top of his lungs, "HEY EVERYONE!"

The road was silenced.

"And people wonder about your ability to lead," Yubel commented with a fond smile.

"Thank you," he smiled to the crowd and looked over to the pink haired girl. "That should help get things in order."

"Uh, yes, thank you," she stuttered, but Judai reasoned that he had screamed pretty loudly. It probably wasn't the best first impression he could make, but at least it got the job done.

She looked over to the crowd and instructed how to fill out the form. Before long, three other kids joined in while telling the pink haired girl to go prepare. They were all yelling about something and giving a show to put their money where their mouths were. Judai's eye widen in understanding that she was probably the opponent for that Yuya kid. He frowned – the school was definitely in need of some staff if they got kids doing all the administration work.

"Why are you still standing here?" Yubel asked.

"Well, it's not like I can just go back to my old spot. Besides, standing here seems to keep the kids in line," Judai explained quietly as the line grew smaller and smaller. A half an hour must have passed before the line was finally gone, and piles of forms were being transported from the table to folders.

"Thanks mister! That might have been a lot worse if you weren't here to help out!" a small girl called out as the boys carried the stacks to an office nearby.

"Oh, it's no problem!" Judai dismissed, his smile nervous. Suddenly, being alone with a small girl felt harder than fighting against the forces of darkness. He tried to block out Yubel's laughs.

"I know!" she snapped, "As thanks, why don't you come and see Yuya and Yuzu's duel together. You're a duelist right?" she asked, pointing to the deck on his belt.

Before Judai had a chance to answer, the girl was pulling him to a hidden room upstairs. The room was filled with large machines whirling but was overall very quiet. He was pulled over to toward a wall with a window with a large device in front.

"Ayu! How come you didn't help out with those forms? They were heavy!" the boy cried out as he came through the door.

"Really? I thought that since you were with Gongenzaka, it wouldn't be that bad. Besides, someone needed to start up the new Solid Vision System!" Ayu said as she played around with the large computer in front of her.

"Hey now, let's wait until Yuya and Yuzu are ready," the larger kid warned as he walked up and then suddenly took notice of Judai.

"Hello!" he greeted with a big smile. On instinct, Judai reached for the deck as the other boy reached out the grab his hand. "My name is Gongenzaka Noboru! It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for that help earlier."

"Yuki Judai," he replied, "and it's no problem. Just thought I would do something to help out that girl. She seems like she has more things to worry about than she should."

"Yuzu is like the best student in our school. I think she even outranks Yuya here!" the other boy commented. "It gives me shivers just thinking about it!"

Putting names to faces, Judai felt as if he was beginning to draw a good picture of the crew here. Now it was time to gather some more information.

"So what's this machine here?" he asked.

"You don't know? Are you new around here or something?" Ayu asked as if he just asked what a car was.

"Well, kind of," Judai answered, his eyes shifting around for some help.

"Gongenzaka! The duel is starting!" the boy urged. Gongenzaka muttered something under his breath and pressed a button. On the screen showed a graphic of a field spell Judai didn't recognize.

"I guess the best way to show you what's an action duel is through a duel itself!" Ayu said as the dueling ground in front of Judai shifted into a beautiful grassland. In his time, Judai often found himself a little underwhelmed during his friends' dueling tournaments featuring the latest technology. It was hard to be amazed when the holograms were as realistic as the duel spirits that were constantly following him.

The holograms here made Judai think that the device had the ability to shift dimensions itself.

In a glow of light, the very minimal room in front of him shifted into a luscious meadow with a bubbling creek. Wind gently blew around, and for a second, Judai honestly thought that the machine transported them into a separate dimension. Had Judai not seen the machine turn on, he probably would have summoned Neos then and there and prepare for an attack.

As the two duelists below him readied their duel disks, the two of them began saying some kind of pre-rehearsed chant. With a snap of Yuya's fingers, a glass holding a variety of cards shattered above them and dropped the cards within. There was a moment of silence before the duelists called out "Duel" and the game had begun.

The first turn was simple enough. A small monster, Enter-Mate Discover Hippo, was played and the turn was over. It was a little premature to end the turn in Judai's eyes, but he didn't expect much from this duel. However, it was the fact that Yuya had actually _gotten on_ the hippo and then began moving around the field.

"That's," he gasped out, "so cool!" He tried to ignore Yubel's quiet groan and comment that this was their daily life.

"This is what Action Dueling is about. With the technology of Solid Vision, duelists are able to travel around the field with their duel monsters," Ayu explained. Judai smiled and thought about dragging Johan over here. The two of them would have a blast in this dimension.

The second turn was even more interesting as Yuzu tried attacking Yuya. But with one of those action cards, the attack was avoided. Judai couldn't even hold down his excitement when Yuzu still managed to inflict battle damage directly. If this was the types of duels this dimension held, he was definitely going to need to update his decks a little bit to accommodate the area.

For the most part, the duel seemed to stay to rules that Judai was used to. Action spells were limited to one in a duelist's hand at any time, and there was a time limit until a duelist had to play a card before their turn was immediately ended. It was fast paced and exciting, and Judai could see where the kid's desire for "entertainment dueling" came from.

It was definitely funny to also watch Yuya attempt a couple of failed Pendulum summonings. Judai was definitely not a studious one, but years of experience told even him how to perform a summoning like that.

"You make it sound like you were some kind of child prodigy at dueling," Yubel commented.

 _You make it sound like I wasn't._ Judai shot back, and Yubel remained silent at that.

"Still, this Pendulum summoning, it's very odd. Why has no one seen it before?"

 _It might be our lead to solving the instability problem._

"Pendulum summon!" Yuya screamed, and Judai flinched at the sight of the poor kid flying against the wall. It was a very short duel to say the least.

"It's over?" the boy asked.

"Seems like it," Judai commented and frowned. He wanted to watch more dueling, but he supposed that it couldn't be helped.

"What about the pendulum summon?" Ayu asked, and Judai looked over to the crowd in the lower hallway. A lot of them were wearing the same expression as these kids.

"Let's go meet them downstairs," Judai motioned and allowed the kids to guide him through.

"I can't believe that Yuzu-nee-chan beat Yuya!" the boy sighed.

"She did beat him those other times Futoshi," Ayu commented, though she looked as down as the other boy.

"Yuya must just be tired from having to duel twice in a day!" Gongezaka inputted, "Dueling so much must have put a strain on him." Judai tried not to comment that when he was in school, ten to fifteen duels a day were not uncommon for him.

Whispers about the duel could be heard all through the corridor. Some of them were accusing Yuya of faking his duel while others were wondering if this was just some big corporate scheme to try and get them to buy more cards. Judai didn't need to be there to see the confused look on that Yuya kid's face.

"Uh, I have a question," a boy raised his hand.

"Y-yes?"

"Before you mentioned that you had Pendulum cards. What did you mean?"

"So they are cards that are new to even this dimension. I wonder who they are," Yubel inquired, curiously peering of Yuya's shoulder.

Judai watched as Yuya opened his deck to reveal these new Pendulum cards, and was thoroughly impressed with how quickly the crowd turned against him. Show some kids something they don't have, and immediately they'll turn against their idol. Yuzu was looking lost again before she established eye contact with him. Shaking his head, he gave out a silent apology. If these kids only wanted to be here for the Pendulum summoning, they weren't going to be very good students in the long run.

As the crowds of children rushed out, Judai noticed that the Yuya kid had put on his goggles.

"He reminds me of you when you were younger," Yubel noted, but Judai didn't need an explanation for that one. He walked over, and placed a hand on the kid's shoulder.

"Hold on for a second kid," he order, and Yuya was just about to brush him off when a voice echoed through the hallway.

"Yuya-nii-chan is not a cheater!" the blue haired kid cried out, and the rest from there was history. Turns out, the kid, Tatsuya, was a big fan from the get-go, and found his courage to stand up for his hero. It seemed enough to bring Yuya back to his normal self; however, Judai knew that look Yuya was wearing. Tapping his shoulder, he tried to bring back Yuya's attention onto himself.

"Judai-kun, you really must allow the student to discover his own powers," Daitokuji-sensei pleaded.

 _The last time that happened, a kid sacrificed all of his friends and became a dark overlord_ , Judai tried to hold back a bitter laugh. He failed. _If a little personal growth is what it costs to prevent a lot of grief, then so be it._

"Could I see your deck for a second?" Judai asked.

"Uh, sure?" Yuya answered, and pulled out his cards. Had this been a more dangerous dimension, Judai would have begun yelling at the kid: you shouldn't hand something as valuable as your deck to total strangers.

Digging through the cards, Judai noted that there were a lot of monsters with a few spells and trap cards. It was an elementary deck that made up for the few spells and traps with the abundance of effect monsters. It was also handy for a deck that seemed to rely on Pendulum summoning to have an abundance of monsters. However, it lacked a layer of complexity with a small Extra Deck.

Pulling out two cards, Judai gave the deck back to Yuya.

"See these cards? These are you Pendulum cards, right?" Judai explained and waited for a nod. "See this number? Let's call them the Pendulum scale then. When you set the scale, these numbers dictate the levels of monsters you are able to summon. These two cards are very good to have because it has a larger scale and thus more monsters you can summon at once in any instance, does that make sense?" Yuya's eyes widen as if Judai had just explained the theory of the universe to him.

"Very good Judai-kun. I praise you on your use of common words and friendly tone!" Daitokuji praised.

"That makes sense! So when I tried summoning Sword Fish and Whip Viper earlier, it was because Odd-Eyes was set in the scale that I couldn't summon them!" Yuya concluded, and Judai nodded.

"Wait, how did you know about that?" Yuzu asked, her eyes suspicious. "Are you from LDS or something?"

"Yuzu-nee-chan! It's okay! He didn't even know about action duels before coming here," Ayu explained.

"What?" At that point, Hiragi-san, the only adult in the room at the moment, interrupted the conversation with a certain gleam in his eyes.

"Does that mean you are interested in being a student then?"

"Uh, well," Judai stammered, uncomfortable with now being in the center of attention. He wished for the floor below him to swallow him, but unfortunately for him, that would make quite a scene.

"Of course, of course," Hiragi-san interrupted again. "We'll throw you in a placement duel to see where you fit. You don't have to be nervous. Yuzu and Yuya are two of my very best duelists, so it's understandable if you lose. This is more of a test to see where we will need to place you in our classes."

 _Yubel, help!_ Judai begged.

"I say go for it," Yubel suggested.

 _That is not help._

"You were the one who wanted information about this Pendulum summoning. Why not just stay with this kid until something more interesting happens. He is our only lead so far. Plus, if you don't duel him now, he's going to want to duel you later," Yubel reasoned, and then gestured to Yuya's determined face. Of course this all happened right after his pep talk.

"I don't really have a duel disk on me right now," Judai tried to back out.

"Don't worry! The You Show Duel School supplies a free one with every application!" Hiragi-san answered and tossed a small, red device toward him.

Looking between the device and the group that had somehow circled around him without his notice, Judai could only sigh and give his brightest smile.

"Let's duel then," Judai agreed, and was cheered on by the group around him.

This was certainly not how he expected his day to go, but Judai wasn't exactly complaining.

* * *

 **A/N** : This is one of the longest stories I have ever written for anything.

Basically, the idea for this story is a what-if Judai was involved in the story of Arc-V in a more involved fashion. While the story is going to relate back to the show, it's going to be a more involved version. I hope that it provides a little more insight into everyone.

Some background on Judai if you would like: Judai has been through the Zexal, 5D's and original dimension. He had only lived through Zexal's events though, and we will be seeing some background from that. I have not written anything about Judai and Zexal besides a few mental musings. About 10-ish years have passed since Judai left from GX.

About the dueling: for anyone die-hard about the dueling, I will say that I will be following a few of the anime rules. 1) We are doing 4000 LP. I cannot plan these duels for any longer. 2) We can summon monsters in defense position. I know, I'm a sham, but for the sake of Judai, I'm going to allow Clayman (and other monsters) be summoned in defense position.

I hope to make these updates a frequent as possible, but if you know from my other stories, I can be very slow at updating (Engineering Major \o/) so please be patient, and thank you for reading!


	2. Flashback

Judai was given an hour to get used to the new duel disk, play around with his deck, and then contemplate into a corner as to why he was in this situation. Yubel offered no support as they just laughed and mocked Judai.

"Years we have spent fighting the forces of Light, and yet the mere thought of having a friendly duel frightens you the most."

"It's not that Yubel, and you know it. I haven't had a duel with someone who wasn't out to kill me in years." He paused for a moment in thought. "Johan doesn't count."

"Neither does Sho, Fubuki, Asuka, or Edo I suppose then? What about Manjoume? While he is the great "Manjoume Thunder," surely you understood that it was all in jest," Yubel joked, but their eyes showed great concerned for him.

Judai growled at their words but simply brought his knees up to his face.

For a few moments, Judai had thought Yubel had disappeared with how quiet the room had gotten, but then felt a warm feeling spread through his chest and realized where they had gone. Their bond had grown even stronger through the years, and Yubel knew exactly how to battle away the dark thoughts brewing inside.

"Thanks Yubel," he muttered as he uncurled himself. After taking a moment to breath, he walked over to a small table and focused his energy on making a suitable deck. When everything was sorted out, Judai tried not to laugh at the irony of it.

He had tried to construct a deck that was not too complicated and might reveal that he was at pro level in his own dimension. However, another Judai took a few liberties in the process so that he could have a little fun during the action duel. Once he was done, he was surprised to realize that it was practically his first deck he built for his entrance exams. Without the Neo Spacians or Yubel or any of the other cards he gathered through the years, Judai would have to resort to using some of his more elementary tactics from all those years ago. In any case, thinking about his entrance exam might bring back happy memories of dueling rather than the darker ones he was used to.

"Is this the one?"

"Yes it must be. I can sense his power from behind this door."

Two voices were talking from the room behind him, but Judai could tell from behind the door that they were not ordinary people. Summoning up his power and enhancing his vision, Judai stood up and demanded their names.

"Please do not worry. We are friends," the voice clarified. Without further warning, Judai opened the door. Behind the door were two figures dressed in regal clothes akin to some kind of fantasy magicians. One was dressed in white while the other was dressed in black.

"You are Yuya's cards," Judai remembered, and brought down his guard ever so slightly.

"Yes, and we are here to thank you for explaining to him our summoning mechanics. The boy has gone through a lot, and we were afraid that this hurdle might be too much to handle," the dark magician explained.

"Our ward is a powerful duelist, but he lacks guidance," the light one added. They both focused their attention on him.

"You want me to be his mentor," Judai gathered, his eyes narrowing at the idea.

"Perhaps," the magicians answered at the same time.

"Explain."

"We know of you, Haou. Every duel spirit in this universe knows of you. We know the rumors that surround you, and the fact that your presence means that this dimension is in danger."

"Yuya is a key figure in saving this dimension, but he is young. While he is talented, he has not the environment to unlock his potential. However, we are afraid that when he does, the outcome will be… unpleasant."

"And so you want me to guide him, so that this power does not break him." Memories of the Dark World arose, but he quickly dismissed them. It was not the time to show weakness.

"Correct," one answered.

"However, we will not allow just anyone to be our ward's mentor. Beat us in a duel, and we shall decide. If not, we will ask you to leave and deal with the disaster ourselves."

Judai smirked, "It's going to be more difficult to get rid of me now that you have my attention."

"Yuki Judai, Haou Judai, we know of your legacy and that infamous card that lead you there. We know of your deeds, both good and bad. We will not allow Yuya to follow your path if necessary."

Judai was about to retort something back at the duel spirits, but he felt Yubel pull him back and calm him.

"Relax. They are only worried about their master. You are a fearsome warrior Judai – it is only natural that they are wary," they informed, and Judai took a deep breath. The magicians looked ready for a fight should the need arise.

"I'm not making any promises about the whole mentor thing," he began, "but if you want to see my strength, I will give it my all in our duel." The two magicians looked at each other for a moment before nodding to each other. They gave a small bow before disappearing in the air. Judai dismissed his power and frowned.

Something about those two unnerved him. They obviously knew more than they should. Duel sprits by themselves were more aware of the state of their dimensions than humans, but they seem to know more than the Neo Spacians. However, if he wanted to know more, he was going to have to win. Recalling his current deck, perhaps a few modifications were in order.

"Yuki-san," Yuzu called from behind the door. "Are you ready?"

"Ah, yes! I'll be out in a second!" he called, and rushed on over. He cursed himself wanting to stay low and building a custom deck rather than using his usual one. Regardless, Judai didn't have the title as "The Next King of Games" for nothing. If there was anything he was good at, it was finding a way to turn a duel around.

Placing his deck into the duel disk, Judai watched as the machine auto-shuffled and then placed all the cards from his extra deck into a separate compartment. He reviewed the different locations on the duel disk, as per Yuzu's instruction, and took a deep breath.

"It's just a normal duel. No death and no dimensions in danger. It's just a normal duel," he repeated to himself, and walked over to meet Yuzu on the other side of the door.

"Right this way," she cheerfully guided. Judai returned a small smile and followed her down the hall.

As a school, the building was not very large. A majority of it was underground in order to accommodate the dimension requirements for the Solid Vision machine. There was also a gym for physical training and a few classrooms for duel theory. Yuzu took the opportunity to explain some of the facilities as they passed them. The girl reminded him a lot of Rei, which helped calmed his nerves.

"By the way, Yuki-san," Yuzu started, "what kind of deck are you using?"

"Just call me Judai. That'll be fine," he insisted sheepishly. "And why do you ask? Out to give vital information to the enemy?"

"What?" she exclaimed, outraged at the mere implication. "No! No! It's just that we were looking you up in the dueling system to see if you had any other affiliations with other schools to finish up the paperwork and you weren't there so I was just kind of wondering if you even had a deck on you and-" Definitely a bit a Rei, but he could start seeing the Sho in there too. He couldn't help the easy smile that appeared on his face.

"It's fine! It's fine. I was just teasing. As for my deck, I'm afraid it's kind of an old one. I made it few years ago, and I thought that it was high time for its comeback. I'm a little nervous about how it'll hold up in an action duel though."

She looked back at him with a glare. "Are you underestimating us?"

"What?" he asked, confused with the sudden change of tone.

"Yuya might not seem like it with that show earlier, but he's a great duelist. Don't think that just because he couldn't pendulum summon earlier that he won't be able to beat you and your old deck!"

"I have never underestimated any opponent." Added to the fact that he once dueled monkey, that statement had a lot of weight to it. Fortunately, he got the desired effect without telling her that.

Yuzu looked surprised with the sudden change in demeanor and looked downward.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to assume. It's just, Yuya has been through a lot. You were kind of the first person he met that actually helped him with something instead of making him get through it himself," the pity quickly disappeared and she looked at him with fierce determination. "So if you are just trying to manipulate him and grab those pendulum cards for yourself I'll-"

Judai laughed. First it had been the duel spirits, and now it was this girl. Yuya had many allies on his side. It had been a long time since he'd seen loyalty like that. It was refreshing and welcomed change in pace. He patted the girl on the head in what he hoped was more brotherly than demeaning.

"Don't worry. I'm just here to learn about dueling and have fun doing it." For the most part, he added mentally. He watched Yuzu stare at him as if she could find something his years of soul searching could not. He smiled at her again, and she finally seemed to believe him.

"Just, don't go easy on him," she concluded an opened the doors.

"Don't worry. While this may be an old deck, I don't really like losing," then, as a thought occurred to him, he added, "I'm going to bring it to him." Yuzu tilted her head at the odd phrase while Yubel groaned inwardly, as if any mention of that dimension brought physical pain to them. Judai laughed. It at least lightened the mood for him.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Yuya exclaimed as a spotlight shone on him. "I apologize for the delay! Today, allow me to give you an entertainment duel you will not forget!" Smiling, he gestured over to Judai and allowed the spotlight to shine over him. Judai covered his eyes briefly before waving to an invisible crowd.

"Today, my opponent shall be upcoming student to the You Show Dueling School: Yuki Judai! A mysterious wanderer from a foreign land," Yuya paused for a dramatic effect. "Will he be able to defeat top duelist of the You Show Dueling School, Yuya Sakaki?"

"Sakaki. I recall that name," Yubel commented. Judai nodded, storing the information for another time. Right now, he was getting excited for this action duel and unable to think about anything else. Despite his age, Yuya was obviously an experienced duelist, and Judai knew that this victory would not be easy. His eyes narrowed at the magician duel spirits that appeared behind Yuya. They nodded in respect towards him, and Judai returned the gesture.

Through the loudspeakers, the kids including the newest addition to their group were saying that same little chant from before.

"Duelists locked in battle! Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters! They storm through this field! Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of dueling! Action Duel!"

Well, it got Judai's blood rushing a little better than Manjoume's chant at least, or maybe it was just the excitement from the action duel itself. Either way, Judai made a mental note to record it for Manjoume to take notes. A moment afterwards, the machine above began whirling and a light flew around the stadium. Some of the light seemed to stick together and slowly dissolve into large buildings. Soon enough, the scenery changed from an empty room to an entire American Western town. Judai couldn't stop the childish glee coming over him and ran to one of the buildings. He almost expected to get a splinter from touching it.

"As the challenger, you can take the first turn," Yuya conceded and activated his duel disk. Judai nodded and took his stance.

"Don't go easy on me," Judai warned. He looked over to the viewer's platform where Yuzu was watching and smiled. Looking back at Yuya, he readied his duel disk and shouted, "Duel!" to begin the game.

Judai was able to grab a quick glance at Yuya's cards earlier. From what he could remember his deck featured a lot effect monsters to make up for the lack of magic and trap cards. Added to the fact that Yuya had that pendulum summon at his disposal at any point in this duel, he was going to have to play it defensive until the right moment.

"I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode!" he announced and watched as a shadow form from the ground in front of him. It slowly grew smaller and smaller until a giant landed in front of him in a fairly large crater. Evidently, the heroes seemed to like these Action Duels as well.

"I then attach Mud Max to Clayman which increases his attack by 300. I play one card faced down and end my turn."

There was a moment's pause, as if Yuya expected something more to magically happen. Judai almost swore he saw a tumbleweed fly in the background.

"That's it?" Yuya finally asked, and Judai could hear the kids boo him from their viewer platform. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head and apologized. Even Clayman seemed disappointed with the lack of flair his dueling had.

 _It was only the first turn guys! There's not a whole bunch a guy can do on the first turn._ Judai defended, but Clayman seemed to just roll his eyes and turn his back to Judai.

"Ah well, that's fine because the show is going to heat up quickly!" Yuya smiled and looked to the crowd. "This is what you all have been waiting for!"

"I set the pendulum scale with the Scale 1 Magician of Astromancy and the Scale 8 Master of Chronomancy!" Yuya declared as he placed the two cards on the two ends of his duel disk. Behind him, two beams of light emerged from the Earth. The two magicians rose through the light. He could feel their eyes on him. As they reached the sky above, the giant crystal from before appeared and rocked from side to side.

"Now," Yuya was screaming, as Judai wasn't roughly twenty feet away, "I can summon any monsters between levels 2 and levels 7 at the same time!" He winked at Judai as if it was a way to say thank you. Judai couldn't help but feel as if he had just signed his own death wish. Yuya raised a hand into the air and continued.

"Swing! Pendulum of the soul, draw an arc of light across the ether. Pendulum Summon! Come forth, my monsters!" A large portal opened from above and three lights fell from it. They landed nearby Yuya and quickly formed shapes.

"Entermate Discover Hippo! Entermate Whip Viper. Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya called out as the monster revealed himself. Judai swallowed hard at the sight. His mind was racing at possible options he had to go against three monsters as well as any other monsters Yuya will summon. As of now, his odds were looking a bit grim.

He was aware that his deck had a weak beginning, and keeping some kind of advantage in the first few turns was crucial. However, while half of his mind was panicking, another part was thinking about the limitless possibilities a deck with pendulum summoning could lead to. It was definitely something Johan and Manjoume should look into for their decks.

His head was so overwhelmed with thoughts that he almost didn't see Yuya get onto Discover Hippo and run into one of the buildings.

He had almost forgotten about those Action Cards! If there was anything that was going to get him out of this situation, it was getting a hand on one of those cards.

"Judai, that dragon's eyes." Yubel brought attention to. The fierce beast stood on its two hind legs as it breathed slowly. It was watching Judai's every move, but the color of its eyes made Judai hold its breath.

"Do you think-" Yubel speculated, but was cut off with a command from Yuya.

"Odd-Eyes, attack Elemental Hero Clayman!" The dragon roared and began charging at the hero.

 _We'll have to deal with it later Yubel._ Judai promised and raised his hand.

"I activate Mud Max's effect. When Clayman is attacked, I can destroy Mud Max to negate the attack. In addition, when Mud Max is sent to the graveyard, I am allowed to special summon an elemental hero from my hand to the field." Judai paused before summoning his monster. He had to remember that dueling was less like a game and more of a show here. He put on a bright smile and in a similar manner to Yuya, he called out, "Please give out a warm welcome to Elemental Hero Sparkman!" Sparks of lightning emerged from the cloudless sky as Sparkman appeared in a single blink. Small cheers could be heard from the viewer's platform, and even Yuya gasped in mock surprise to keep up the momentum. Sparkman seemed to notice the attention and even posed a second after his entrance. The moment was short lived as Judai climbed on Sparkman's back. The two made a brief moment of eye contact before Sparkman leapt into the air and landed on one of those buildings.

As they flew, Judai could hear Yuya laughing. "That's more like it!" he commented, and looked to his other monsters.

"It looks our villain for today has stolen Odd Eye's spotlight," Yuya rubbed his eyes as if he was crying. "But that's okay because we have a whole bunch of other friends with us today. For instance, Whip Viper, show the audience what's your special effect!" The snake took a quick bow for the audience before Yuya threw it toward Sparkman and Judai. Its eyes glowed for the brief second it made eye contact and swiftly returned to Yuya's sighed. Sparkman fell onto one knee as if he was weakened.

"Sparkman?" Judai asked.

"That's right! Whip Viper is able to switch around Sparkman's attack and defense points during my battle phase. Whip Viper! Attack Sparkman!" Yuya declared as the snake jumped and lunged toward Sparkman.

Waiting for the last possible moment, and ignoring Yubel's criticisms that he was being too reckless, he held out his arm and activated his trap card.

"Not today Yuya," he smirked. "I activate Hero Barrier! Since I have an elemental hero on my side of the field, I am able to negate your attack." As he explained, a large shield appeared out of nowhere, and Whip Viper comically ran head first into the shield. The snake made a sad face, swore its vengeance, and slithered its way back to Yuya. The entire act reminded Judai too much of the shows he used to watch as a kid. He couldn't hide the laugh. It was hard to stay focused on dueling when it was just as fun to watch it.

"Aww, well that's too bad," Yuya sighed, "I end my turn then, and all monsters' whose stats were changed are now returned to normal. It's your turn, Yuki-san!" Yuya declared before ducking into another building, probably to find an Action Card.

"Judai, is this one of those cards you are looking for?" Sparkman asked, pointing to a card tucked between two planks of wood. Judai jumped off the hero's back and grabbed the card in excitement. He could feel that this was going to be a game changer.

"All right! Thanks Sparkman!" he smiled, and Sparkman returned a thumbs up. "Okay Yuya, you might have been impressive with that Pendulum Summon from before, but now it's my time to shine! First off, I use the magic card Pot of Greed to draw two more cards from my deck."

The biggest disadvantage Yuya had with his reckless pendulum summoning was that he was constantly at a hand disadvantage. It was the one disadvantage that Judai was going to have throughout the game, and he wasn't going to waste it. Looking over the cards in his hand, he nodded. It was time for his five minutes of fame.

"In the face of danger and darkness, there is only one hero that will be able to defend this city. I use the magic card fusion to fuse Elemental Hero Clayman and Elemental Hero Sparkman!" As he explained his cards, a large portal appeared from behind. Clayman and Sparkman nodded to each other before the jumped right into the portal. Thunder sounded, and the light emitting from the portal was more blinding than ever. "Born from the depths of the Earth and raised by the power of the storm, everybody! Please put your hands together and welcome our brand new hero: Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!"

A bolt of lightning shot out from the portal, only barely missing Judai himself, and landed right in front of Yuya. The lightning shifted itself and grew to the size of one the buildings in the town. With a mighty roar, Thunder Giant finished forming and began summoning his signature thunder clouds above.

"Very nice Yuki-san! Bonus points for that form and patience!" Hiragi-san approved from within his duel disk. Judai sheepishly blushed. He never gotten that kind of praise back at the academy, and it was nice to feel appreciated once in a while.

"You make it sounded like you're some kind of forgotten wraith," Yubel scoffed.

 _You make me feel so loved sometimes._ Judai frowned but brought his attention back to his duel. However, it was a little bit more difficult to focus with those eyes Yuya was pulling.

"S-so this is the power of f-fusion…" he stuttered in a daze. Judai raised an eyebrow at the comment.

 _What kind of things are these kids learning in this school?_

"Not all schools are as luckily to have the necessary facilities to educated students on all the in's and out's of dueling Judai-kun. You were very lucky to have such amazing teachers teach in classes where you graciously took naps in," Daijokuji-sensei explained bitterly.

 _Still managed to graduate._ And Judai was glad to say that he still had the diploma to prove it. However, he didn't miss his professor's "through pure luck" comment.

"You're," Yuya began and stared at Judai with the biggest smile on his face, "so cool!"

With a grin to match Yuya's, Judai jumped to the next building and continued on with his turn. "However, before we get to our main event, Thunder Giant has one trick up his sleeve. Once every turn, Thunder Giant can destroy one monster on the field with an attack less than his own. This is for taking the spotlight earlier: Thunder Giant – destroy Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

"What? But Odd Eyes' attack is higher than Thunder Giant…" Yuya said as he scrunched up his eyebrows.

"Oh? What's this thing I found?" Judai teased, and Yuya looked over in his direction.

"An action card? Yuzu! I though you said that he didn't even know what an action duel was!" Yuya accused and then flinched when the angry reply came back.

"I used the action card "Bottoms Up" which can raise the attack of one monster by 500 points, which brings Thunder Giant's attack to a very nice 2900!" As a green aura surrounded his monster, Thunder Giant slowly began stomping toward the dragon. Yuya was quickly dodging around the buildings in an attempt to find an action card to save him.

"Vapor Spark!" Judai called as his monster raised one arm and swiftly dropped it, crushing the drag into an array of lights. Judai made a mental note at the odd pain that erupted in his chest as the dragon was destroyed.

"Did you feel that?" Judai asked.

"Yes. There is something about that dragon-"

"Of course I felt that! You took out my ace monster!" Yuya complained, and Judai closed his mental connection. From above, he could feel the magicians' eyes staring at him with interest now. They were discussing something about him, and if he wanted to know more about this kid, he was going to have to keep with this momentum.

"Sorry Yuya, but I'm not even finished yet. Thunder Giant! Attack Discover Entermate Discover Hippo!"

"What?!" Yuya cried out as bolts of lightning chased him. Above, he could hear the kids laugh at Yuya's ridiculous act.

As his screen reported that Yuya's life points dropped to a solid 1900, the destruction of his main mode of transportation around the field, and with one card in his hand, Judai felt confident to simply end his turn. He noted to himself that the action magic effects seem to only last for one turn, and watched as the green aura disappeared.

Now, why were the magicians above smirking?

"You're going to pay for that evildoer!" Yuya declared as he picked himself up from the ground.

 _Since when was I the villain of this story?_ Judai thought with a frown, but carefully watched Yuya stare at the field.

"Draw! Now then, it was sad to see Odd Eyes and Discover Hippo disappear before they got a time to shine, isn't that right?" Yuya asked, and a muffled "Yeah!" replied. "However, they were as sad about it as you were. Let's give them another chance, shall we? Come on back, my monsters!" Yuya summoned, as the portal between the magicians opened again and two more lights appeared.

"What? But he only has one card!" Judai exclaimed.

"Judai, look at where his monsters went to!" Yubel instructed. Judai brought up the duel history from his duel disk and watch the animation of the cards. As Thunder Giant destroyed both Odd Eyes and Discover Hippo, the cards did not place themselves into the graveyard like they were supposed to. Instead, they were placed in the Extra Deck.

"What?" Judai repeated, and then gasped as the dragon and hippo reappeared with a vengeance.

"Since when was that a part of the rules?" he groaned but was pleasantly surprised with Yuya. The kid hardly knew how to even perform the summon, but here he was showing off a few tricks he learned between then and now. The magicians were definitely right that Yuya had some kind of hidden potential.

"That's right everyone! Pendulum monsters are not sent to the graveyard like normal monsters. Instead, they're sent to my extra deck faced up, meaning I can resummon them on my turn!" Taking a steep bow, Yuya paused as if there was a loud applause in the background. When he came up, he looked to the imaginary audience and laughed, "Let the fun begin!"

"Whip Viper, why don't you show Thunder Giant your special effect one more time?" As the snake began charging toward Thunder Giant, Yuya once again jumped on Discover Hippo. He was definitely after an action card now. With Thunder Giant's attack points at 1500, Judai was going to have to play things safe again. Jumping off the roof, his only chance to keep his advantage will be to find another action card.

"Thunder Giant!" Judai called out, hopefully being able to use their limited time to find the one card he needed.

"Whip Viper! Attack Thunder Giant!" Yuya ordered from behind a building. From the map, Judai could tell that Yuya had found what he was looking for.

 _Damn, this is going to hurt._ As Thunder Giant was destroyed through an explosion, Judai looked at his hand for something that was going to save him.

"Kuri Kuri!" a card chirped, and Judai smiled.

"I can always rely on you pal."

"Odd Eyes, Discover Hippo, attack Yuki-san directly!" Yuya ordered. Judai never had thought that a hippo would look so dangerous. Of course it helped when a very dangerous and vengeance-seeking dragon was following said hippo.

"I use the spell card-" _Bzzt!_ Rang his duel disk as the card was rejected.

"Sorry about that Judai-san. We can't really allow you from playing any more of your evil spell cards. I activate Magician of Astromancy's Pendulum effect! I can negate the activation of one spell card once per turn. Get ready!" Yuya warned as the dragon continued charging toward him.

Judai screamed in pain as the beasts both headbutted him and he skid across the floor.

"Judai!" Yubel screamed.

 _Yubel! Stop! I'm okay!_ He reassured, hopefully before Yubel interfered in the match.

"Yuya! He's just a new student! Why are you being so tough on him?" Yuzu asked. Judai couldn't really tell if she was being more annoyed or more worried.

"Yuzu, you know as well as I do that this guy isn't some beginner," Yuya explained in a serious tone of voice. Ah, so that's why the kid was bringing out all the big guns so early. It was good to know Judai was still able to intimidate someone within five minutes of knowing them.

"Still. This is definitely his first time with the Solid Vision. At least go a little easy on him with those attacks," Yuzu scolded. Judai wished that Yuzu was there to scold his opponents all the time. It would make his a job a little less life threatening from time to time.

"It's alright Yuzu," Judai consoled as he stood up. "I'm used to getting beaten around like this." The bruises and scratches were largely superficial, and it probably looked worse than it felt. Looking over his duel disk, Judai found that Yuya even used the same action magic card he used before hand to boost his monster's attack. It was a solid attack, even though it did come out a bit short to his loss.

"With that then, I end my turn." Yuya was smiling. However, it wasn't an arrogant smile that made it seem like Yuya knew he was going to win. Instead, the kid was challenging him. He wanted Judai to some how come out of this hopeless situation.

His monsters are going to be a nuisance. With complete board control, Yuya compensates his hand disadvantage with just being overbearing with those attacks. Additionally, Judai no longer has an opening since Yuya can just revive his monsters on his turn. So instead of simply creating an opening within his army, Judai will just have to attack the general.

"My turn. I draw!" Judai yelled. With four cards in his hand, he just had to rely that the kid didn't have any more tricks up his sleeves.

"I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman! If Bubbleman is the only monster in my hand and field, I can special summon him onto the field and draw two cards," Judai announced as he revealed his hand. Unfortunately, his hand held a fusion card, which caused Yuya to already run toward the nearest action card. He was going to have to act fast.

"Next I summon Elemental Hero Burst Lady in attack mode!" In a flash of fire, Burst Lady appeared next to him and Bubbleman. Yuya was still dashing around: it didn't look like he could an action card yet.

"With two elemental heroes on the field, I now use the magic card R – Righteous Justice!"

"Another magic card?" Yuya asked as his marker on the map stopped.

"With this magic card, I can destroy the same amount of magic or trap cards on my opponent's field as elemental heroes on my field."

"But Yuya doesn't have any magic cards," Yuzu stated, but the card wasn't rejected. Judai guessed right.

Both Burst Lady and Bubbleman jumped into the air as the magic card was accepted. Their bodies became beams of light, but they weren't aiming themselves near Yuya. Instead, they flew through the sky right toward the large beams of light.

"My pendulum scale?" Yuya asked. Apparently this was news to the kid too. He made a mental note to talk to those duel spirits about explaining things instead of forcing things to happen.

"Monsters set in the Pendulum Zone are treated as spell cards instead of monsters, which makes them 100% vulnerable to my spell!" Judai explained and internally cheered as the magicians' lost their smug expression and guarded themselves against the attack. The beams columns of light disappeared, the crystal faded, and an opening appeared itself to Judai.

"Next I use the magic card Fusion to once again bring a new hero onto the stage! Fusing Elemental Hero Burst Lady and Elemental Hero Bubbleman together, I am able to call forth a new monster! Come on out, Elemental Hero Steam Healer!" Judai summoned as the portal once more emerged. Burst Lady and Bubbleman seemed to have vaporized away, but through the portal new figure crawled out.

With an attack of 1800, it was time for Judai to turn to tide.

"Steam Healer: attack Whip Viper!"

There wasn't enough time to look around for an action card. He was going to have to use Yuya's daze to his advantage and strike while the iron was hot.

"With Steam Healer's special effect, every time they destroy a monster, I am able to recover life points equal to that monster's attack." As Steam Healer punched through the snake, a relaxing breeze blew over Judai as his life points rose.

"Kuri Kuri!"

"Don't worry pal. I didn't forget about you either," waiting for Yuya to come out of his daze, he took a deep breath and exhaled. "I place a card faced down and end my turn."

His hand advantage was gone. The duel was going to be over in the next few turns, and depending on how Yuya took this loss was going to decide the duel. Inwardly, he could feel Yubel watching this duel intently. The air was thick as duelists and spectators watched the game for any hints to who was going to be the victor.

The two duelists stood still. Both had a hearty 1800 life points with no real hand advantage but a very large field advantage for Yuya. To any outsider, it looked as if the match could be anyone's. However, the duelists, victory was just in sight.

"First off, let's welcome our latest recruit, Entermate PlusTurtle!" A small turtle emerged in a flash a light. Field advantage for Yuya just increased. Judai wasn't liking the smile on Yuya's face anymore.

"And now, I use the action magic card bullseye. By paying 800 Life Points, I am able to destroy one monster on my opponent's field. So sorry to see you go so soon Steam Healer, but this duel is mine!" Yuya announced as a cowboy gun appeared from nowhere and shot the monster into pieces.

"Now, Yuki-san, with no monsters left on your field," Yuya pointed out, and using his brief dramatic pause, he jumped right onto Odd Eye's head. "I attack you directly!" With a ferocious road, the dragon charged, wanting another bite out of Judai. This dragon and Amethyst Panther would be good friend.

"Not so fast Yuya. Even when you can't see them, I always have my friends at my side. I use the magic card Flute of Summoning Kuriboh!" In a poof of smoke, Judai's closest friend appeared. With a shrill cry, his friend charged head first into battle.

"Thanks pal," he whispered and walked down through center of town. "With this magic card, I can summon Winged Kuriboh directly from my deck. When Winged Kuriboh is defeated in battle, all battle damage is negated during your battle phase."

Yuya coughed as the dust settled between them. His eyes were determined, but his smile told Judai that he knew what was going to happen next.

"I end my turn then," Yuya ceded and carefully watched Judai's.

"Draw." The duel depended on this one card.

Looking carefully at his hand, Judai thanked his deck for not letting him down once again. He stared at Yuya who had not broken eye contact since Judai's turn began. Yuya smiled. Judai could appreciate the kid's willingness to fight to the end.

"Let the fun begin," Judai muttered. "First off, let me introduce everyone to one more of my heroes: Elemental Hero Feather Man!" In a gust of feathers, his hero appeared. He gave a nod of confirmation to Judai, as the hero flew into the air.

"I now use the magic card Miracle Fusion. With this card, I am able to banish the fusion material from play from both my field and my graveyard to special summon a fusion monster from my extra deck," as two cards emerged from the graveyard to be placed in the banished pile, two lights emerged from his duel disk. These lights, one red and one yellow, flew beside Feather Man and circled around him as he flew higher and higher. They flew so high that they were mere specks in the cloudless sky above.

"Forged by the bonds I have crafted with my monsters, Enter: Shining Flame Wingman!" With a small _ding_ to signify his entrance, a being came flying down at amazing speeds. Judai took two steps back, but Yuya stayed still. For a second, nothing happened. Soon, the buildings began burning, light began to blind, and winds gusted at unimaginable speeds. After a moment of silence, it sounded as if a crater crash-landed to earth. Right in the center of the town, the blinding being emerged from the smoke.

"With every elemental hero in my graveyard, Shining Flame Wingman's attack increases by 100 points. Since Clayman's the only hero in there, his attack now becomes 2600."

"Battle!" Judai cried. "Direct attack on Discover Hippo! Shining Shoot!" Yuya took that as his cue to start running, but the chase was futile. The flames caught up with Yuya in no time at all. However, the field didn't disappear.

"Ha ha! I use Action Magic Saloon! I recovered 1000 LP, keeping me alive… for… one… more… turn?" Yuya asked as Shining Flame Wingman grew closer to him.

"Oh, Shining Flame Wingman also has another effect. When he destroys a monster in battle, he deals direct damage equal to that monster's attack." In a motion that Judai couldn't quite explain himself, he found himself pointing toward Yuya and smiling. "Gotcha!"

In a storm of fire, the battle was won and the town finally disappeared.

"Good duel," Yubel complimented as they appeared to Judai's side. For a brief moment, Yubel laid a hand on Judai's shoulder. He nodded back. They had a lot of things to discuss tonight.

"Yuya!" Yuzu screamed as the doors opened. Judai flinched. He really hadn't meant for Shining Flame Wingman to hurt the kid, but he did get a little excited back there. He ran after Yuzu in the smoke.

"Yuya!" she called out again. While she was distracted, Judai enhanced his vision with Yubel's power to find the boy through the smoke.

"There!" he pointed out and dragged her along. She called out his name again, and this time, the body moved in response.

Thank gods the kid was okay.

"Aw, are you getting attached?" Yubel asked.

 _Not really the time Yubel._

"Yuzu?" Yuya asked as they reached him. This solid vision was definitely something else if it can cause a kid momentary paralysis after a huge hit like that. Thankfully, solid vision, in the end, was still just holograms. Like his previous injuries, Yuya's wounds were largely artificial.

"Yuki-san," Yuya whispered, and Judai moved closer. "That duel… was awesome!"

"What?"

"Yuya! You really shouldn't be moving like that! What if you sprained something?"

"Will you be my coach?"

"Huh?"

"Spectacular Yuki-san! I haven't seen an action duel like that since its glory days. Where did you learn to duel like that? You aren't some rookie you lead us to believe."

"Well I-"

"Yuki-nii-chan! Can you teach us fusion summoning? Can you? Can you?"

"I have to go now sorry!" Judai excused himself and dashed off to the nearest exit he could find. Once he was in the shadows, he faded away, and the next thing he knew, he was outside again. He was outside where there was air, a real sky above him, and most importantly, he was alone. A worried heat buzzed from within. He was mostly alone.

"Judai-kun, just take deep breaths," Daitokuji-sensei advised, and Judai just sat down against a building. It was hot, and the breeze was nice against his skin. He probably should have worn lighter clothes, but it was almost impossible to predict the weather from another dimension.

Once his breathing evened out, Judai opened his eyes. There was a road in front of him that has certainly seen better days. A few cars passed by in a variety of colors. He found peace in counting the number of blue ones that passed by.

Being surrounded still made his anxious. He panicked back there and had to escape. He was so used to being alone and being by himself that once people invaded his personal area, it was like being attacked. He knew that wasn't true, but so many faces and so many questions was overwhelming. He breathed in and then out.

"Better?" Yubel asked.

"Yeah," Judai replied, grateful that he had at least two people by his side.

"Yuki-san!" That was Yuya.

"You didn't travel far," Yubel explained as they pointed out the You Show Dueling School sign to the right. Ah, that was why the road looked so familiar.

"Yuki-san," Yuya huffed out. "I'm sorry. We didn't mean to crowd you earlier. It's just, you were so cool and I really couldn't help myself, but I wasn't thinking and we're usually not like that so."

Judai smiled and gave a thumbs up. "It's no problem. Just next time, a little space, cool?"

Yuya brightened up with that promise. "Next time? I mean, yes sir! I mean, yeah no problem!" The confidence faded as he grew sheepish. "Uh, if you're okay, Coach wanted to see you in his office to finish up the paperwork."

"Right. Thanks Yuya, I'll be there in a second."

"I'll let him know." Yuya stared at him for a second, as if he was gauging whether or not Judai was actually going to come in. He seemed satisfied in what he saw and went inside the building. As he opened the door, a tower of children came falling down – a suitable punishment to their eavesdropping in Judai's opinion. Yuya screamed at them, saying something that this was supposed to be a private moment, but Judai didn't pay them too much attention.

"You don't have to go. We can leave right now," Yubel suggested. Judai just shook his head.

"You know we can't do that."

"I guest. It is nice to imagine a retirement plan when all of this saving inevitably goes wrong." Yubel smiled, and retreated back to Judai's soul, for the extra strength.

"Beaches and fishing for the rest of our days," Judai promised and walked through the doors. The kids seemed to have recovered from the previous tumble and were all acting as inconspicuous as a group of kids could be. He could tell that they were all watching him from the corner of their eyes and he made his way to the office. Judai didn't really know what to make of all of this.

Knocking quietly on the office door, Judai waited for the invitation before walking in. Just as he was closing the door, he caught a soft, "Do you think he's going to stay?" from Ayu and frowned. He wasn't really thinking about really being a student here. He really wasn't planning to get so involved with this dimension's people so early.

"Judai-kun, please have a seat," Hiragi beckoned as he finished typing something on the computer.

"Judai, first off, allow me to apologize for what happened. It is an extreme embarrassment for you to feel unsafe in this school, and we regret for making you feel like that earlier," Hiragi apologize as he bowed his head.

"It's no problem. I'm fine now, but a little warning in the future will be appreciated," Judai smiled, and breathed a sigh of relief when Hiragi did the same.

"That's good to hear. Now your results. I am sure that you are aware, your dueling skills are spectacular. You were able to throw back Yuya, one of my top duelists, even with his Pendulum Summon and his ace, and even when you were on the edge of defeat."

"Yuya still has a lot to learn with his Pendulum summoning, and my victory was more of a chance victory than a calculated one." Judai reasoned, trying to mentally silence Yubel's teasing.

"And that is the attitude I am talking about. Judai-kun, I am an excellent duelist in my own right. I have dueled with the best, and I wish to impart my skills to the next generation. This was a dream I had with a friend of mine." Hiragi leaned back in his chair to glance over at a photo in on top of a filing cabinet. "However, the school is getting bigger, and my students, they are surpassing the best, and even me. Ever since Yusho disappeared-" Hiragi stopped himself. "What I mean to say, will you join the school not as a student, but as a teacher?"

Judai's tried to silence Daitokuji's laughter.

"I'm sorry?" Judai asked. "Me? A teacher?"

"Yuya already looks up to you, and you obviously are a quick learner with what advice you gave him today. We can discuss pay and benefits at a later date – but Yuki Judai, it would be an honor if you stayed at my school, if at least for a little while," Hiragi implored, his eyes determined. The man truly believed that Judai was a good person to mentor his students. Judai tried to clear his mind of all the horrible things he had done in his past. People looked up to him before, but now it was hardly admiration anymore. Sho, while he had grown into his own person, could never see Judai like he did. He couldn't destroy another bond. He couldn't. He was doomed to be alone, and this was going to be a mistake, and he knew it was going to, and-

"I'll do it," Judai found himself saying, and Hiragi left his mouth to hang.

"You will?"

"Yuya has promise, but that Yuzu is very strong too. I'll mentor them, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave the basic classes for you, Hiragi," Judai continued talking, even though every part of him inside wanted to take back those words.

"Agreed. In that case, if you could just sign a few documents and show me some ID and…" Hiragi listed off legal terms and documents for Judai to sign, and he signed them. The initial regret began dying off as the confidence that made him agree grew stronger. He thought about Yuya's power, and he thought about himself. If he had someone, anyone, tell him about his strength, he would have saved himself a lot of grief. Now that there was a chance that Judai could be someone else's guide, there was no way in hell that Judai was going to let the opportunity pass.

It had been a long time since Judai spent so much time with people in a casual setting, but he supposed it was going to at least be a good change of pace.

* * *

 **A/N:** **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please let me know what you all thought, especially the dueling. If you want less or more, I would love to hear about it.**


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